Pathetic CS - not honoring promise!!!!!

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Want to keep this as short as possible, so I'll simply list the event's that occurred in bullets.

- Called VZW a on 7/6 upon learning that unlimited data plans for smartphones were no longer being offered for new data plans beginning 7/7. My question to the rep - "Would I be able to sign up my daughter's line that currently has only a feature phone for the $29.99 unlimited data plan and use it as a placeholder until I got my hands on a smartphone for her." He quickly responded that I could. I pressed the issue and wanted him to look further into it because I did not want to sign her up for one of the tiered plans that we know were coming. After being placed on a lengthy hold, he came back on and GUARANTEED that this would be OK. If I thought it would have been a problem, I would have switched her over to an old WinMo phone I no longer use that day, even though I would have not seen her for a week. Rather than deal with the inconvenience of not being able to call her and put the Windows phone on her line, I just added the $29.99 data package to her existing feature phone.
- Called VZW yesterday when I got a used LG Ally to switch to this line. The rep looked up the 7/6 notes on my account and promised the he could keep her on the grandfathered plan.
- Noticed on my account today the she has a 2GB capped plan. Called VZW to explain. The rep's response "you were given incorrect information. There is nothing we can do."

Here's looking forward to when all of our contracts are up. Leaving VZW (who I've been with since analog days) and never going back. I have the date entered on my calendar.

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They did the same thing to me when I tried to get the promotion for $10 unlimited data earlier this year. I had a rep make a note, and they told me that it was a miscommunication between me and the rep.

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They did the same thing to me when I tried to get the promotion for $10 unlimited data earlier this year. I had a rep make a note, and they told me that it was a miscommunication between me and the rep.

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Sad thing is, I know this would happen. She was away and I didn't want her phone cut off while she was out of state. I really should have just swapped her to my old Samsung Omnia until I got my hands on the Ally.

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Call and get a different rep. If you get the right one they will switch it.

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I left out much of the conversation. I asked who I could escalate this to as it is unacceptable that I'm screwed because of their mistake. He said my account was noted that the department in charge of restoring my data plan to the grandfathered one responded that nothing could be done.

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Nov 10, 2010

I considered that but didn't want to play that card unless I truly was ready to disconnect. I have five lines on a family plan and just can't afford the ETFs.

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Try it anyway. No way they will let a customer as good as you go over a mistake on their part. At the very least if things don't work out, they will give you an opportunity to gracefully bow out of your bluff.

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Try it anyway. No way they will let a customer as good as you go over a mistake on their part. At the very least if things don't work out, they will give you an opportunity to gracefully bow out of your bluff.

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Another part of this story I kind of left out - shortly after submitting the OP I did go to the VZW website and contact them via e-mail. In it I described the events as I did in the OP and finished with:

"I want nothing further from you. I only look forward to the day when all of my contracts are up and will disconnect my service."

To their credit, VZW did reply to that this morning. The rep submitted a "manager request" to have the unlimited data plan added to my line. Let's see what happens.

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Oct 22, 2010

They can't change it back. It's not something they just don't want to do, it's no longer an option for them to do. Once a feature/plan code has been removed from the system they can't just go back and add it.

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Apr 6, 2010

They can't change it back. It's not something they just don't want to do, it's no longer an option for them to do. Once a feature/plan code has been removed from the system they can't just go back and add it.

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Actually they could. It's called back dating. They have done that before when you are close to going over or have gone over before the end of your billing cycle. Basically they would change the plan to a higher amount of minutes or texts, but put the effective date as earlier in your billing cycle. In the end you get no overages, but your are also paying a higher amount for the larger capacity. In this situation both the tiered and unlimited are the same price, so they might be less willing to do so.

Whether they still even back date anymore I don't know, but they have done it in the past.

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Jun 30, 2010

Actually they could. It's called back dating. They have done that before when you are close to going over or have gone over before the end of your billing cycle. Basically they would change the plan to a higher amount of minutes or texts, but put the effective date as earlier in your billing cycle. In the end you get no overages, but your are also paying a higher amount for the larger capacity. In this situation both the tiered and unlimited are the same price, so they might be less willing to do so.

Whether they still even back date anymore I don't know, but they have done it in the past.

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In order for them to backdate it, the feature needs to be available in the system. Only a few select people have the ability to add grandfathered price plans or features.

What the OP should do is write an executive email carpet bomb (Google it). It works wonders.

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Actually they could. It's called back dating. They have done that before when you are close to going over or have gone over before the end of your billing cycle. Basically they would change the plan to a higher amount of minutes or texts, but put the effective date as earlier in your billing cycle. In the end you get no overages, but your are also paying a higher amount for the larger capacity. In this situation both the tiered and unlimited are the same price, so they might be less willing to do so.

Whether they still even back date anymore I don't know, but they have done it in the past.

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Actually we can't. Backdating a price plan or feature is WORLDS different that trying to bring back a data package that has completely been removed from our system and placing it on someone's account.

Sometimes, just sometimes.. the guys at Verizon aren't lying to you... they actually CAN'T do things.

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Trust me. I know all about that. At the stores I've worked in (since VZW was called Bell Atlantic Mobile) I've had the unfortunate pleasure of having to explain to customers why they couldn't go back to analog plans from the "new" digital plans . As a customer, I now am painfully aware of what it feels like to not be able to be accommodated, even when the company made the mistake.

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I was about to do the same thing on the 6th - add a data package to my daughter's feature phone to hold the unlimited data package until her line was due for an upgrade. Fortunately, the rep I called double checked this for me, and told me it would not work. happy ending, though for me. I had an upgrade on my line which I moved to my daughter's line and she went and purchased an IPhone that day. Phew.

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Jul 18, 2011

It's only a matter of time before upgrade phones won't be allowed to have unlimited data plans grandfathered anymore. Get out of VZW while you still can!!! They need to be taught that people don't want to be limited. Move over to Sprint, the last true nationwide unlimited carrier.

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It's only a matter of time before upgrade phones won't be allowed to have unlimited data plans grandfathered anymore. Get out of VZW while you still can!!! They need to be taught that people don't want to be limited. Move over to Sprint, the last true nationwide unlimited carrier.

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Whether or not the CS rep is able to make this work, I plan to let all of our lines reach the end of their contracts and shop around. Just left a bad taste in my mouth. If it happened to be today, Sprint would get strong consideration.

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1. The rep made a mistake, that doesn't mean they have to give you, they can apologize. 2. Barely anyone really needs unlimited, few need more than 2 gbs, and most use less than a gig of usage. 3. Every carrier is going this way, the best solution would be family data plans (like minutes, pay for a large chunk of data on the whole account) so if you are going to switch every time a carrier changes you will run out eventually.

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May 21, 2011

It's more than a mistake. OP called to make sure before a change to his plan was made. This affected where his hard-earned cash went. If the wrong info was given by a rep, the customer should not be punished. That's what's messed up. Its not like customers should call 10 times just to make sure they got the right info.

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1. The rep made a mistake, that doesn't mean they have to give you, they can apologize. 2. Barely anyone really needs unlimited, few need more than 2 gbs, and most use less than a gig of usage. 3. Every carrier is going this way, the best solution would be family data plans (like minutes, pay for a large chunk of data on the whole account) so if you are going to switch every time a carrier changes you will run out eventually.

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Actually a pretty large percentage of users go over 2GB per month. Average users are usually about 1-4 GB per month. It was determined awhile ago when they started capping broadband cards at 5 GB, that 5 GB was a good threshold to weed out "heavy users" which I didn't agree with in the first place. Without any tethering or mobile hotspot I easily use 2-3 GB per month myself.

Hopefully people will start to realize that the speed of LTE is a gimmick if you're going to be limited to 2 GB per month. I would rather have the speed of WiMax and have unlimited usage. The speed of LTE won't be noticed much over WiMax except in downloading really large files or gaming, which most likely you're not doing unless you're tethering. Then once you start doing those things you'll hit you're cap in a matter of a few days.

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Actually a pretty large percentage of users go over 2GB per month. Average users are usually about 1-4 GB per month. It was determined awhile ago when they started capping broadband cards at 5 GB, that 5 GB was a good threshold to weed out "heavy users" which I didn't agree with in the first place. Without any tethering or mobile hotspot I easily use 2-3 GB per month myself.